Wraparound lighting system is made to get motorists' eyes on bikes

While many bike lights are designed to provide side visibility, SeeMe takes the concept a whole lot further. The system's head and tail lights incorporate wraparound LED lighting strips, along with HD cameras that record any accidents which may occur.

Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, SeeMe was created by British cyclist Jay Singh. Having also worked as a truck driver, he is well aware of how important it is for riders to be highly visible from all directions.

At the heart of the setup are the headlight and tail light, which put out 1,500 and 450 lumens respectively. That said, each of those lights is flanked by two 160-lumen LED lighting strips that curve around to either side. According to Singh, this combination provides true 360-degree illumination for the cyclist.

Each of the two lighting units also incorporate an Omnivision 1080p/30fps video camera equipped with a 140-degree wide-angle lens.

Footage is continuously recorded on two included 32GB memory cards (one in each unit), and is automatically overwritten unless the card is removed. Users can swap in higher-capacity cards – up to 128GB – if they wish to record more video in one go.

The lighting units themselves can also be quickly removed from the bike for battery charging and theft prevention, thanks to quick-release handlebar and seat rail mounts. Each unit's 3,400-mAh lithium-ion battery should reportedly be good for over two hours of runtime at maximum lighting output. The lights can be set to two flashing modes and three constant output levels.

Assuming the SeeMe system reaches production, a pledge of £225 (about US$294) will get you a complete setup – that's 11% off the planned retail price. You can see SeeMe in use, in the video below.

UPDATE (Oct. 10/24): The Kickstarter campaign was successful, and the lighting system can now be ordered direct from the company website.

Source: SeeMe Cycle